On the Top of Sulphur Mountain, plus shots of my favorite Mountain Cascade

Going up Oct. 2012, Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105 at 58mm, f4, 1/30sec. ISO1600

Taking the ride up to the summit of Sulphur Mountain in Banff National Park Alberta, is always a wonderful experience. The mountain was named in 1916 for the hot springs on its lower slopes, where after a long day trekking it’s great to sit and relax in Banff “upper hot springs pool”.

I went to the summit using the gondola many times, summer, late fall, the view is always astonishing no matter how many times you see it, so vast and beautiful, nature to his best.

Last time I was up was in late October 2012 a very cold and snowy morning, I remembered being in my car waiting for the gondola to open, it was the last week end for 8:00am early ride up.

It was so cold so miserable, it was the first time that I saw that parking lot completely empty, I had my doubt about going up in this kind of weather, it can be very nasty up there, but I decided to do it anyway.

I was the first one up, going up just after the employee’s, just before getting in my own cabin one of the staff on ground told me, that I will be very happy, that the view up there was amazing.

When I go up Sulphur I always bring my heavy sturdy tripod, my best camera body plus a backup and at least 3 lenses, my Canon 16-35, Canon 24-105, and 100-400.

I was alone in the cabin during that October ride to the summit, I was ready to shoot, it was not an easy situation, early morning in a snowy day, sitting in a moving cabin, means I needed to boost my ISO to 1600 and try to minimized camera shake, but at least I was by myself, having the freedom to move side to side in the cabin.

I took shots of the ascension, and just before getting to the summit, passing through the thick cloud, I got one of the most exciting view, I was bouncing inside the cabin like a kid, I couldn’t believe the beauty in front of my eyes, how lucky I was to be the first up, means having time to take a lot of shots, without the regular tourist crowd.

I passed 2h by myself, it was extremely cold, but exhilarating probably the best time I ever experience up there.

Couldn't believe my eyes what an amazing view, Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105 at 32mm, f4, 1/60sec, ISO1600

On the top of Sulphur, view of Cascade Mountain, Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105 at 24mm, f9, 60sec, ISO200

Extremely cold but so magnificent, Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105 at 28mm, f9, 1/6sec, ISO200

Cascade my all time favorite, Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105 at 67mm, f11, 1/60, ISO200

 Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105 at 28mm, f14, 1/60sec, ISO200

I added some of the summer shots that I took to give you an idea of the summer view, I also added shot of my favorite mountain “Cascade”, Cascade is the mountain you see from the town of Banff is a landmark, you can also see the other side of it coming into Banff National Park from the east gate, the shot I took from that point of view was from my car, you are not authorized to stop at that location, and is doesn’t give credit to the feeling you get when you see it from that side, every time I drove on that road and I see that amazing Mountain, I feel very small, this is for me the most impressive piece of rock in the world!

Summer day on top of Sulphur, Canon 5D Markii, Canon 16-35 at 20mm, f14, 1/40sec, ISO200

View of Summit Upper Terminal an elevation of 2,281m (7,486 ft) Canon 5DMarkii, Canon 24-105 at 67mm, f13, 1/25sec, ISO200

 Late Summer Valley View, Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105 at 65mm, f13, 1/100sec, ISO200

Cascade overlooking Banff Town site, so massive, very impressive, Canon 5DMarkii, Canon 24-105 at 58mm, f13, 1/50sec, ISO200

Cascade Banff Landmark, Canon 5D Markii, Canon24-105 at 45mm, f9, 1/50sec, ISO200

Cascade East Side Gate View, from my car, Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105 at 105mm, f10, 1/100sec, ISO200

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Happy Easter

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Camera Motion Technique

Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105 zoom in and out f22, 1/2sec, ISO200

For this post, I used camera motion to create abstract images. To use motion to create abstract images, first you need to put your aperture as small as possible f22 +, put ISO at 100 or 200, if you have a neutral density filter use it, all that to slow down you shutter speed, you need the time to do the motion whatever it is, I normally use shutter speed in between 1/15 sec to 30 sec. 

This was an interesting wall art in Recoleta Argentina a Buenos Aires Neighborhood, I used this wall to get the image below, Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105 at 24mm, f10, 1/40, ISO200

Using the wall in the image above, I did the zoom in and out and a haft a turn left and back to the original position, Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105, f22, 1/10 sec. ISO 200

The easiest one is up and down, a slow up and down motion, does a great job with trees. One of my favorite is to use a zoom, zooming in and out during the shot, the last one that I use is a bit more complicated but that much, first zoom in or out, and finish by moving the camera body haft a turn left and back to the original position, or right used the one that feel natural, it takes some practice, sooner or later you’ll have your own favorite camera motion. Read the images caption to know witch motion I used.

 

Took me a while to get the result I was looking for, I wanted to show the scent of the flower going out, to do so I used my Canon 5D Markii, Canon 100mm prime macro lens, f32, 1/2sec ISO 200, moving the camera slowly from the flower to the right after many shots I got it.

 Ana Bistro Mendoza Argentina, Canon Rebel Xsi, Canon 24-105, f9, 30sec, using a tripod, and doing a really slow zoom in and out.

Trees Blooming, Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105 f22, 1/15sec. zooming in and out doing a circular motion with the camera body.

Using a wall, I did the zoom in and out and a haft a turn left and back to the original position, Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105, f22, 1/13 sec. ISO 200

Forest, Canmore Alberta, Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105 at 105mm, f22, 1/3sec. ISO 200, slow up and down movement,

Bouquet, Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105, f22, 1/10sec. ISO200, zoom in and out with a circular motion.

Woman, Canon Rebel Xsi, Canon 24-105 f7.1, 1/6sec. ISO 200, zoom in and out.

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One Image Transformation Options

I took that image during a trip to Argentina in 2011, I have a fascination for trees, I was attracted by the branches, feel really like looking at the lungs of our planet. I have a lot of respect for trees, they help the planet breathe by turning carbon dioxide into clean, pure, oxygen, we are lost without them.
They also keep our planet cool, and help stop the global warming, and add beauty to our landscape.
I took that image with my Lensbaby and a double glass optic, the reason why I use that lens was to focus on the delicate branches I wanted everything else out of focus.
I put the file away when I came back from the trip, I knew what I wanted to do with it, but I was not sure how too.  A year later I decided to try, I think if I remembered correctly the first 10 or 12 attempts were unsuccessful.
My first successful attempt took me a few weeks, using Photoshop Cut Out Filter, and Corel Painter I was able to do a mix of cut out and painting.
My second attempt took me a long time, few months, using only Corel Painter and all the different brushes, a lot of redo’s, took time to get exactly what I was looking for.
When I look at the two images, I cannot say which one I like better, and I don’t want to make a choice, they are both a representation of my vision, a vision that was inspired by beautiful and   majestic trees.

This was my first successful attempt, you can see the cut out filter effect for most of the image except for the middle part where I used Corel Painter to add the flowers and to define some of the branches. I used selective color and hue/saturation to get the final color.

This is my second successful attempt, so much work, that's probably the reason I like it so much, or maybe it's because it was a intense extraction of my vision, and a expression of my feeling. Took me few months, but it was a relaxing time listening to great music, and drinking wine. It's not for every taste, but it is a great representation of what I really wanted to achieve, and that's what is important, this kind of work is done first to please the artist, in that case me, and it's the same for everyone of us, doesn't really matter, if only we and few others like the result, if we are happy with it, that's what matter.

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